NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: May 2007
Daily Newspaper Market
Britain’s national daily newspapers saw an overall year on year drop in readership for the six months to May 2007 of 0.6%, according to the latest data from the NRS.
In the Quality daily sector, the Daily Telegraph was the only title to record an upturn in its readership year on year, at 6.3%, whilst in the Mid-Market and Popular daily sectors, it was a mixed picture.
The Daily Mail dropped almost 190,000 readers whilst the Daily Express added 3,000. However, the Mail remained the market leader of the Mid-Market titles.
In the Popular sector, the Sun saw a decline of more than 100,000 readers year on year, whilst the Daily Star added around 190,000 readers and the Daily Mirror boosted its total figure by more than 150,000.
Quality Daily Titles
In the Quality daily market, all titles except for the Daily Telegraph recorded a year on year fall in readership.
The Telegraph saw 127,000 new readers pick up the title, giving it a total readership of more than 2.1 million.
The Independent felt a minor fall in its total NRS figure, of 9,000, to leave it with 800,000 readers, whilst the Guardian shed 80,000 to leave it with a total of around 1.2 million.
Meanwhile, the Times was worst hit in the sector, losing 174,000 year on year. The title now holds a readership of just over 1.7 million.
Mid-Market Daily Titles
The Daily Mail dropped almost 190,000 readers year on year for the six months to May. The title remains the market leader, however, with a total readership of more than 5.1 million.
Competitor the Daily Express bolstered its total by 3,000 readers to leave its total a little short of 1.8 million.
Popular Daily Titles
More than 105,000 readers deserted the Sun year on year for the period, whilst the Daily Record saw a downturn of 90,000.
However, the Sun remains the most read daily paper in Britain, with a total readership just short of 7.9 million, whilst the Record‘s total now sits short of 1.1 million.
Other titles in the sector saw their readerships rise. The Daily Star added more than 190,000 new readers to boost its total to more than 1.7 million, whilst the Daily Mirror added more than 150,000 year on year. The title now boasts a final readership figure of more than 3.9 million.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – Dec 06-May 07 | ||||
| Daily Titles | Dec 05-May 06 | Dec 06-May 07 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Daily Telegraph | 2,012,000 | 2,139,000 | 127,000 | 6.3 |
| Guardian | 1,276,000 | 1,196,000 | -80,000 | -6.3 |
| Independent | 809,000 | 800,000 | -9,000 | -1.1 |
| Times | 1,892,000 | 1,718,000 | -174,000 | -9.2 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Daily Express | 1,777,000 | 1,780,000 | 3,000 | 0.2 |
| Daily Mail | 5,312,000 | 5,125,000 | -187,000 | -3.5 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Mirror | 3,800,000 | 3,952,000 | 152,000 | 4.0 |
| Daily Record | 1,161,000 | 1,071,000 | -90,000 | -7.8 |
| Daily Star | 1,543,000 | 1,734,000 | 191,000 | 12.4 |
| Sun | 7,999,000 | 7,893,000 | -106,000 | -1.3 |
| Total Daily | 27,581,000 | 27,408,000 | -173,000 | -0.6 |
Sunday Newspaper Market
The Sunday Newspaper market was down 2.9% year on year for the six months to May 2007, a real term decline of almost 920,000 readers.
The largest decline in real terms in the Sunday market was suffered by the Mail On Sunday, which was down almost 450,000 readers year on year.
Only two Sunday newspapers recorded an increase for the period, the Popular titles the News Of The World and the Sunday Mirror.
Quality Sunday Titles
All of the Sunday Quality titles were down year on year, with the smallest decline felt by the Observer, which was down by just over 1%, leaving it with a total readership of more than 1.4 million.
The Independent On Sunday was also down year on year, by just over 25,000 readers, giving it a total readership of around 800,000.
The Sunday Telegraph shed 4% of its readership year on year for the period, meaning that its total for May stands at over 1.8 million.
Despite also suffering a year on year decline in readership, of over 1.5%, the Sunday Times remained the most read title in the Sunday Quality sector with a readership of more than 3.4 million.
Mid-Market Sunday Titles
As with the Quality Sundays, the Mid-Market Sundays were both down year on year.
The Mail On Sunday was down by just under 450,000 readers year on year, leaving its readership at almost 5.7 million.
The Sunday Express recorded a year on year decline of almost 5% for the six-month period to May, to take its total to more than 1.9 million readers.
Popular Sunday Titles
The Popular Sunday sector saw a couple of titles buck the trend, with the Sunday Mirror up by almost 85,000 copies year on year, giving it a total readership of around 4.3 million.
The News Of The World was also up year on year, by 25,000 readers, taking its total readership to around 8.4 million.
The People suffered a significant fall for the period, slipping almost 15% year on year, leaving it with a total figure of less than 1.7 million readers.
The Daily Star Sunday also recorded a downturn in readership, of almost 15,000 readers, leaving it with a total of 945,000.
| National Newspaper NRS Figures – Dec 06-May 07 | ||||
| Sunday Titles | Dec 05-May 06 | Dec 06-May 07 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Quality | ||||
| Independent On Sunday | 826,000 | 799,000 | -27,000 | -3.3 |
| Observer | 1,478,000 | 1,460,000 | -18,000 | -1.2 |
| Sunday Telegraph | 1,896,000 | 1,821,000 | -75,000 | -4.0 |
| Sunday Times | 3,495,000 | 3,436,000 | -59,000 | -1.7 |
| Mid Market | ||||
| Mail On Sunday | 6,136,000 | 5,688,000 | -448,000 | -7.3 |
| Sunday Express | 2,063,000 | 1,964,000 | -99,000 | -4.8 |
| Popular | ||||
| Daily Star Sunday | 958,000 | 945,000 | -13,000 | -1.4 |
| News Of The World | 8,379,000 | 8,404,000 | 25,000 | 0.3 |
| People | 1,962,000 | 1,674,000 | -288,000 | -14.7 |
| Sunday Mirror | 4,233,000 | 4,316,000 | 83,000 | 2.0 |
| Total Sunday | 31,426,000 | 30,507,000 | -919,000 | -2.9 |
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